The Witching Hour
by why.do.I.have.to.pick.a.name
Summary: Five-year-old Castiel is not liking his new apartment. It's cold, there are no kids, and there's someone weird in the kitchen. When's he's had enough of this he confronts the man, not realizing this act will change his life. The only real question is will it make life better or worse?
1. The Tall man in the kitchen

Disclaimer, still don't own Supernatural

Cas hadn't wanted to move, he loved their old apartment, it was warm and had lots of space and many kids were in the building as well. It had a wonderful park nearby too. To his five-year-old self it was perfect, so naturally he was devastated when they moved.

The first thing he noticed when they got there was that the kitchen was cold, while every other room was warm. Cas shivered as he held tightly onto his teddy bear, looking around the kitchen from his chair. His parent not seeming to care as he heated up some pizza.

Even the heat from the oven did nothing to warm the small room. "So, Cas, I was thinking we could get you some new toys, you know to get you settled." He dad says waiting for the timer to ding. Cas didn't answer, he was to focused on the tall man looking over his father.

"Bathrobe, loose tank top and striped boxers, in front of your kid really?" The tall man says shaking his head in disgust. Cas's jaw dropped, he had never seen someone so tall, and honestly terrifying. "Pizza? Come on man the kid needs some type of vegetable." He groans.

"Hey, Cas? Cassie? Hey you with me bud?" Chuck asks, growing worried when his child just kept staring behind him, mouth open. "Whatcha looking at?" He asks finally. Maybe his kid was being normal and created an imaginary friend.

Cas wanted to tell his father all about the tall man but he was afraid he would attack. So, the child stayed quiet, clutching onto his stuffed animal like the world depended on it. Chuck shrugged and took the pizza out of the oven, dinner continuing normally.

Cas pointedly ignored the tall man, pretending he couldn't hear or see him at all. "Man, what I would give to eat food again." He heard the man mutter. He shivers slightly at the feeling of him standing, more like floating, over him.

The child ignored this and made a point to savor his pizza even more. Surely this weird man was just his imagination, and not a ghost. He shivers slightly, soon setting his food down, "Can I go oo bed now." Cas says softly. He looks down at his plate, just wanting to get out of the room.

Although Chuck seemed surprised and slightly worried, he nodded. "Sure Cas, go get some sleep for tomorrow." He says with a small smile. Cas nods and slips off the chair, and quickly toddles off to his new room.

He would sleep and this whole nightmare would be over. It wasn't much later when Chuck came to tuck him in, then proceed to go to his own room to sleep. Cas bundled himself up in blankets, and tightened his grip on his teddy bear. He slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of his old apartment and friends, wishing to see them again.

Cas was having a pleasant dream when loud cursing interrupted his peaceful quiet. He blinks sleepily, soon rubbing his eyes to try and wake up more. This wasn't his dad's usual 'What do you mean this isn't a good book?' cursing, no the voice was to deep.

Was it the tall man? Cas shivers at the thought and just tried to go to bed. After hearing, a few more curses and something fall he decided to man up, and go confront this man. He takes a deep breath and slides off his bed. He walks to the kitchen, armed with just a teddy bear and his footie pajamas.

He felt the cold once he stepped into the room. He shivers slightly and clutched his teddy bear close. "Oh, great the kid is back, how am I going to be at 'extreme peace' with a kid here?" The tall man hisses out.

Cas stumbles backwards before steeling himself. " 'Cuse me mister… I tan't sleep with oo cursing." He says quietly, hiding slightly behind his stuff animal. "So… tan oo be quiet?" He manages to get out.

The tall man freezes, a look of shock on his face, "Wait, you can see _and_ hear me?" He asks slowly. Cas nod mutely. Had he made this man angry? Maybe he should have just ignored him. "M' sorry, I'll go." He manages to get out.

"Wait! At least tell me your name kid." The tall man seemed desperate and lonely instead of scary now. "M' Castiel." He says shyly. The man shakes his head slightly, "That's such a weird name for a kid." He says rolling his eyes. "I'm Dean, and, um sorry for waking you." Dean says rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's ota." Cas says looking down. "Why are oo in my kitchen?" He asks when the silence started to scare him a bit. Dean seemed to ponder this for a bit, "Because my brother forgot me here." He says. Cas's eyes widen, "Oh." Was all he could say.

"Do you think you can help me get back to him Cas?" Dean asks softly, "I have tindergarten tomorrow." The child replies looking down. He didn't see Dean tensing up, then closing his eyes and relaxing. "Maybe the day after today then." He says gently.

Cas nods shyly, giggling slightly when Dean ruffled his hair. The child missing the brief look of shock on the man's face. "M' going oo bed now." He decides, toddling off to his room now that the tall man wouldn't keep cursing.

"You do that Cas." Dean says smiling slightly. It looked like he found his ticket out of here. He watched Cas wander back to his bed, falling asleep once he laid down. Dean was finally going home.


	2. Just a normal morning with a ghost

Disclaimer, still don't own Supernatural.

Dean couldn't help but to stare after the little kid, not only had he been able to see and hear him, he wasn't terrified of him. He found himself grinning, rather excited at the thought of finally getting back to his little brother, just to see him one last time.

Cas would be able to get him out of this hell hole whether he knew it or not. No, he wasn't going to possess the child, he was just going to give him the thing keeping him here, the amulet. Now he knew he was able to touch and grab stuff so he finally grabbed his amulet under the old fridge.

"Man, it is good to hold this." Dean says quietly to himself, feeling the cord and wiping the dust clinging away from it. If he could just get this somewhere on Cas, he'd be set and on his way at least out of this room, it was getting extremely old.

Dean grins to himself as he tosses the amulet into the next room, walking into it rather cockily, a wide grin on his face. He continued throwing his amulet into different rooms until he made it into the kid's room. He wouldn't deny that he felt sort of like a monster in a cliché movie, ready to infect his victim.

He lets a small sigh out and slowly, and quietly slipped the cord onto Cas's neck, smiling when he finally got it on. "Thanks, Cas, you have no idea how much you're going to help me." Dean says smiling, not because he thought the child was cute or innocent, but because he'd be so easy to manipulate him to get him to find Sam.

Dean noticed Cas shiver slightly and smiled, of course he would be cold, a ghost was standing right by him. He hesitantly pulled the covers up onto the child whispering, "Good night." Before taking his place beside the bed, resting.

When Cas woke he really wasn't expecting the tall man to be in his room, right by his bed. "Ister…. what are oo oing?" He asks quietly, surprised when Dean just looked at him with a slight smile. "Hey, Cas." He says as if it was common to be found in a child's room.

"Don't you have kindergarten today?" Dean reminds Cas gently, the child nodding slowly. "Eah, ut... Ota m' going ow." Cas says sliding out of bed. He glanced at the ghost, then at the weird cord around his neck, then at the amulet. He decided not to question it and just grabbed clean clothes, then looked at Dean expectantly.

The ghost sighs and turns around so Cas could get dressed. "Is your Dad cooking your breakfast?" Dean asks, breaking the silence, "No, m' going to oo it." Cas says pulling his shirt over his head. He toddled over to the kitchen, Dean following, looking mildly confused. "What do you mean you do it?" He asks.

Cas looked at him as if it was common for a child to cook for him or herself, "M' oing to oo it." He says grabbing a chair and slowly dragging it over to the counter. He reached for the cereal box, scowling slightly when Dean set it on the counter.

"You looked like you needed help." He says with a slight shrug, "No elp!" Cas responses unhappily, he could do it himself thank you very much. He really didn't want any help, he knew he could do it himself, "Well sorry, I was trying to be nice." Dean says rolling his eyes.

He didn't help Cas for the rest of the time, just watched him grab a bowl and awkwardly pour the cereal into it, he didn't even put milk in it, he just ate it. "Don't you um, want milk?" the ghost asks slowly. "No, it's too ull." Cas says with a small shrug, he really didn't mind it.

He chose to ignore the weird look Dean gave him and continued with getting ready, such as putting shoes on, cleaning his bowl, making his bed, and grabbing his backpack. "Bye Dad." He calls out, locking the door behind him, hopefully keeping the tall man in the apartment.

"So, you walk alone to school?" Cas nearly jumped when Dean just walked through the door, "Why are oo ollowing me?" He squeaks out. He wasn't sure why Dean was here, why he was following him, and why he was trying to be friendly.

"Cause, you have my amulet." That answer really didn't satisfy the child so Dean tried again, "You have my amulet so I keep you safe." He says. Sure, a flimsy lie, but Cas seemed to take it. The child walked down the stairs in silence, down the sidewalk, and to a building that Dean guessed to be the school, so it wasn't that bad of a walk, just a 2 minute one.

"A new school?" Dean asks as they walked inside. He was a little annoyed that Cas just nodded at first, then realized the kid didn't want to talk to him in public, a smart move on his part. "You're pretty smart for a kindergartener Cas." He says with a small chuckle.

The child sighs and walks into the classroom, acting as if Dean wasn't beside him. Which proved harder than he thought. Comments such as: "Look at her legs." And "Wait, is she seriously wearing _that_ in class?" were made as he hung his backpack up, and made his way to a seat.

Cas chose to stay quiet during the few minutes the kids could talk, and scream for their parents to stay. "Cas, you know you're going to be one of the creepy kids no one wants to hang out with if you keep sitting there quietly." Dean says standing next to his desk.

Cas didn't mind at all, he'd rather be left alone. He never knew when he was going move so he chose not to make friends right away. "Seriously Cas, get out there, make a friend, laugh for once." The child glares at Dean when he attempted to move him from his seat.

"Class, settle down!" Dean stopped pushing Cas, so the child could somewhat focus on the teacher. "Now we have a new student, why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" She says smiling brightly. Dean had to groan at the cliché 'new kid in class' theme going on, as he followed Cas up to the front.

"M' Castiel, m' five." Was all Cas said before he went back to his seat, to quickly for the teacher to ask him to tell the class something else about himself. "Yeah, like a boss Cas! You show her!" Dean cheers, grinning when he actually got a small smile and a slightly stifled giggle from him.

"Great you can smile, that's something." Dean teases as the teacher moved on to her introduction. "As you all know, I'm Ms. Rotenberg, and I'll be your teacher, yay!" She says in fake enthusiasm, before moving onto the lesson.

Cas wasn't too interested in it so he didn't pay any attention to it, mainly just listening to Dean's amusing answers. "Yellow, it's yellow… wait what do you mean that's orange, that is clearly a yellow!" The Winchester growls, not noticing Cas smiling yet again.

The rest of class was fun, but not because of the lesson or the teacher, mainly because Dean was so frustrated about the smallest things. He giggles slightly as he followed the group of children outside for recess.

"What's so funny?" Dean asks a scowl set on his face as he gazed down at Cas. "Oo are funny De." The child responses with a small smile. "Was my ranging at colors funny to you?" The Winchester says in a fake angered tone, smiling when Cas nodded with a small laugh.

"Go play you strange kid." Dean says as he gently pushed Cas, slightly surprised when the child just toddled off to the empty sandbox. The Winchester just rolls his eyes and follows Cas, hoping it would be relatively easy to convince the child to help him find his brother.

He sighs to himself as he felt the amulet tug him back to Cas, hopefully, it would be easy, he honestly didn't want to be dragged through school with this kid.


	3. The Adventure Bug

Disclaimer, still don't own Supernatural.

After Cas playing for 10 minutes without any other children even glancing his way, Dean figured something was different about the kid he was stuck with. Cas didn't seem to troubled with being alone in the sandbox. It wasn't really that cold but the sand looked wet, and might be cold. Dean figured he wasn't helping much with his coldness, but Cas didn't complain.

"Okay so we discussed this earlier, you should smile and actually talk to people, not sitting in a sandbox alone." Dean comments, getting a small glare from the child. "Why." Cas says flatly and continued playing with the sand.

"…Why? Well um, it's not healthy not having a few friends." Dean replies, not expecting Cas to be so negative about having a friend. "Neither is oving every month." If Sam were here he would totally be teasing Dean about losing a fight with a five-year-old.

"Well…. okay point for you kiddo." Dean says tiredly. He wasn't going to fight with a kid, he needed him. "Sides, I have you." Cas says quietly, as he built up a castle. It was quiet after that, both not saying anything. Cas was silent, and Dean was just not sure what to say to after that.

"Hey! Come play ith us!" A child squeals from the playground equipment. A bunch of the little buggers running around screaming like maniacs, exactly how most kids act. "No thank you." Cas replies, not even taking his eyes off the sand castle he was building.

"Noooo, play with us! Sand is stu' pid." The child wines and starting walking over to Cas. Dean wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he didn't like this new winey kid. "No. I'm playing alone." Cas says firmly, no even stopping his building.

"Play, with meeee." The kid screams, and stomped his foot in a temper tantrum like way. "Alright, bratty kids don't make good friends." Dean agrees, understanding why Cas wouldn't like to make friends. He forgot that some kids were a royal pain in the ass.

"No." Cas says calmly. Dean was amazed at how Cas was handling this. Dean was sure he would have punched this kids ages ago, but surprisingly Cas didn't seem bothered. He really should had seen what was coming.

"You stupid!" The child screamed and kicked Cas's sandcastle, into the surprised kid's face. Dean never thought he'd see Cas cry, and yet here he was, Cas bawling his eyes out trying to get sand out of his eyes.

"Hey! What is wrong with you!?" Dean growls out, managing to shove the laughing kid down, who also started crying. A teacher finally came up, "Oh no, did you fall down honey?" The teacher says softly, and bends down next to the crying brat. That earns a snort from Dean, as well as an eyeroll.

"Observant." He mutters to himself and helps Cas up. "Come on, let's go get you a band-aid for your booboo." Dean heard the teacher say to the bratty little kid. "Let's get away from them." He says to Cas, who was rubbing his eyes in slight annoyance.

"Ota Dean." He says quietly, and grabs the ghost's hand. While Dean was slightly surprised but he led Cas away from the sandbox, and towards the end of the gate surrounding the school playground. "You know, my brother used to get picked on a lot too." He says in a soft tone. He smiles slightly as Cas looks up at him with slight curiosity.

"'Course I was usually there to keep him safe when he was younger." Dean says, pride clearly heard in his tone. Cas giggles slightly, waiting for the ghost to continue with his story. He didn't know much about the Dean's brother, and wondered what he was like.

"So, we taught him how to defend himself if it came to that point." Dean adds on. After he notices Cas seemed interested his stopped, knowing this would probably help his case in trying to get back to Sam.

"He sounds cool." Cas says quietly. Dean sounded like he really missed his brother, maybe he could help. Skipping school sounded great, and going on an adventure sounded cool too. "He really was." Dean says wistfully, wondering how his brother was doing with life.

"…We tan try and find him morrow." Cas says quietly, and looks at up at his ghost friend with a slight smile. He giggles slightly at Dean's face, "Thanks Cas, it means a lot to me." Dean says quietly, a small smile forming on his face.

"You're a good kid Cas." Dean says messing Cas's hair up with a slight smile, chuckling at the complaints from the child, and the sticking out of his tongue. "A pouty one, but a good kid." He teases, enjoying Cas's slight pout.

"I on't pout." Cas mumbles, a slight grump in his tone. "You are totally pouting right now Cas." Dean chuckles. He smirks slightly when Cas just rolls his eyes and stomps off. After about three feet the amulet tugged him back. He heard the bell ring and sighs. It was back to class, hopefully not color learning again.

After the school ended Dean was about ready to kill someone. Going through a class where he knew all the answers, and kids were hesitating to answer or got it wrong was just painful to watch. Dean was ready to get back into the apartment in the nice and quiet.

Cas was taking the bus back to the apartment, and where he got the money, Dean had no idea, but he wouldn't question it. "I can't wait to get back." Dean says, standing near the child on the bus.

Cas nods in agreement, but refused to speak to Dean when in public. He didn't want to seem insane, or draw any attention to himself. He hears Dean sigh in relief when the bus stopped near Cas's apartment. He didn't like the bus either, there was too many weird old people.

Cas got off the bus, ignoring the cold feeling of Dean hovering above him. Cas still wasn't sure on how the weird amulet was tied to Dean, and why it made him must go where it went. He sighs quietly to himself as he walks to his apartment and heads up to the room.

As expected his dad was typing away at his computer, muttering a few things to himself every now and again. "Pizza's on the table Cas." Chuck calls out when he heard the door open and close.

Cas drops his backpack on the ground and kicks his shoes off. Dean's offer of going off on an adventure to find his brother was getting extremely tempting. He climbed onto a chair, slightly annoyed as Dean hovered over him as if he was going to fall.

"M' okay." Cas says with a scowl as he righted himself on the chair. He wasn't a baby, he could handle himself. Cas huffs slightly and grabs a piece of pizza, and began eating his dinner.

"Is that what you have every day?" Dean asks with a frown. Now he wasn't the heathiest person, but pizza two nights in a row was a bit excessive. "Mostly."

His frown deepens at Cas's answer. The kid should at least be given different meals, like hamburgers or maybe hots dogs and mac n' cheese. "Tometies we get Chinanese." Cas adds on, taking another large bit of his pizza.

"That's that very heathy." Dean says. This wasn't his favorite parent, but at least he was trying, Dean thought at least. "It's food." Cas says blandly, as he ate his slice. He didn't see what the big deal was. HE just chalked it up to something old people worried about.

Cas was pleased when Dean stayed quiet during the rest of his meal. "Bedtime now." Cas says glancing at the clock, 5:30. He could watch T.V but he figured Dean's brother was pretty far away. He slides off the chair, grabbing some money on the table as he did so.

If Dean noticed he didn't say anything, and Cas was grateful for it, the silence was comforting. He continued on with his bedtime routine, brushing his teeth, changing into his pajamas and grabbing his stuffed animal.

"It's pretty early, are you sure you want to go to bed now?" Dean asks. He had to wrestle into bed most of the times, so that Cas went willing to bed without a fuss was unusual. He raises an eyebrow when Cas just nodded and held his teddy bear close. Dean sighs slightly and pulls the blankets up over the child.

"I gotta be rested to ind your brother." Cas says tiredly, and nuzzles deeper into the warmth of the bed. He didn't see Dean's expression, choosing to sleep instead.

Dean down at the child in shock. He hadn't expecting him to actually agree to finding Sam. He feels himself smile slightly, and place a kiss on Cas's forehead. "Sleep well Cas." He says quietly. Dean stays quiet afterwards, the apartment silent expect for the faint typing of keys in the next room.


End file.
